A Contagious… Smile! Training Emotional Skills of Adults with Intellectual Disability in the Time of COVID-19

The COVID-19 emergency has had important implications not only for physical but also
for psychological well-being. This is particularly true for fragile populations such as people with
intellectual disability (ID), who are particularly at risk of suffering during uncertain times. The goal
of this action research was to design, implement, and test the efficacy of emotional competencies
training to support people with ID in coping with stressful events. For this purpose, eight adults with
ID followed a 5-week training of increasing complexity, aimed at exercising different skills through
group activities. We designed a study to test its feasibility and efficacy, using both quantitative and
qualitative methods. The analyses revealed that, after the training, participants used a more complex
emotional language and were able to frame their perception of COVID-related threat with greater
confidence and awareness. These findings, although circumscribed, respond positively to the urgent
need to develop emotional support programs targeted at people with ID.